IDS Vancouver 2023 | An Exhibition of Beautiful Objects

For most September is synonymous with the start of school, but I relate September with IDS Vancouver. The Interior Design Show (IDS) Vancouver celebrates craftsmanship and creativity. There is an emphasis on being bold with colour, shape and materials. There is nothing "basic bitch" about IDS Vancouver. In fact, you would be hard-pressed to find anything as boring as the Carrara marble or neutral white colour palette sofas. IDS Vancouver 2023 did not disappoint with its lineup of Canadian artisans, woodworkers, fabricators and designers. 

There were three Canadian Artisan brands which captivated me and I hope to someday own pieces by them. Man & Son Design (a lighting house), Le Tenon & La Mortaise (wood furniture), and Cory Michah Olsen (Stone nested wood objects).

The lighting fixture display by Man & Son Design was like a warm inviting hug which was hard not to be drawn to. Based out of Victoria, the female duo hand turns every piece of wood into gorgeous shapes for their various lighting fixtures. Their pieces are made from reclaimed wood making each grain and colour unique. They offer pendant lights, sconces and desk lamps.

Halal Guys is Not Worth the Hype

Vancouver always seems to gets missed by large popular brands. Vancouver is a major city on the west coast of Canada and often ranks as one of the most expensive cities to live in the world and yet we are never worthy of being a brands first location. Not to throw shade, but how is it that the prairie cities beat us out for iconic eateries time and time again? So when a popular chain decides to finally grace us with their presence, we embrace it with much fan fare and pomp and circumstance as possible. The anticipation of eating the much-touted Halal Guys meant my expectations were incredibly high. It pains me to say this, but The Halal Guys is a hard pass from me. 

For years I have heard stories of The Halal Guys being New York City's favourite Donair brand. With lines snaking around the block, hungry patrons are willing to wait for the perfect platter of meat, rice, and vegetables all doused in the Halal Guys' signature "White Sauce" and "Hot Sauce." A great Donair is defined by the protein which is often a juicy slowly roasted chicken or beef.   

The first red flag should have been that The Halal Guys do not cut their meat to order. Instead, the meat is sliced and layered into a giant sheet tray where it is held hot for what could be hours. There are three protein options: Beef, Chicken and Falafel. The Beef and Chicken looked grey in colour and completely devoid of any sign of seasoning or herbs. Downright insulting to the meat! I had the Falafel which were good, but nothing to rave about. 

My friends decided to put the Chicken and Beef to the test, but as I suspected, no seasoning therefore zero flavour. The meat was dry and overall unpleasant. The protein was arranged on a bed of rice. At first glance, I mistook the rice for shredded carrots because the rice is bright orange red in colour. I have never seen rice that shade of colour before and it was brutally spicy. My guess is that the rice was literally cooked in hot sauce hence taking on that crazy bright orange shade of colour. Iceberge lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and black olives were added raw with no salad dressing. You are given the option of adding their famous "white sauce" and "hot sauce" which I happily asked for a generous portion of. 

I swear, the whole reason I was excited about Halal Guys was for their infamous "White Sauce." Apparently the sauce is so incredible that Halal Guys sells it in giant pouches! I resisted googling the white sauce, so I had zero idea what the condiment would taste like. 

The White Sauce has zero flavour. I Repeat: zero flavour. It adds a creaminess to the donair, but no flavour. The White Sauce is a total scam! I tried it on its own. I tried it with the food. I could not detect any possible hint of flavour. Now that I have tried it, I asked Google for more concrete answers on what the Halal Guys White Sauce flavour profile should be. Scanning through multiple sites, white sauce is a combination of mayonnaise and yogurt. Those are fairly neutral in flavour, so I am not wrong for finding the white sauce devoid of all flavour. 

The portion sizes are massive, but for fast casual food, I found it incredibly expensive. I want to say with tax, the total came out to $18! For $18 I wanted to enjoy my food and finish it, but instead, I found myself pushing it around the container to avoid another bite. 

In summary, I was excited for Halal Guys but instead, I was duped and left feeling cheated and now shoot them angry looks whenever I pass by the Vancouver location. 

BYE

Mental Health Break because Blogging is Hard

I am back! I have missed writing creatively and the enjoyment I get from expressing myself through words. Being away from my blog has left a huge void in my life. I took a few months break to focus on things happening in my personal life, but I also just needed a break. After all, Pink Tea Latte has been going steady for 7 years!

Blogging is something I do in my free time and has been a pure labour of love. Compensation for my blogposts has been few and far between, so I never really made any money from Pink Tea Latte. Instead, I invested a lot of my own money into this website. Most of the events, activities and restaurants I have visited are paid for completely by me. Needless to say, Pink Tea Latte is not a revenue stream for me and I do not anticipate it changing in the future. 

I blog simply because I enjoy it. I prefer to use my free time creating unique and original content versus mindlessly scrolling on my phone. I am proud of Pink Tea Latte, but in these past few years, traditional word-based bloggers have become overshadowed by social media influencers. In fact, nothing gets me more riled up and annoyed like seeing an Instagramer or TicToker call themselves a blogger. A picture or 15 second video does not make you blogger because to be a blogger, you need to WRITE original content or articles which are then published on a website. 

Content catering to short attention spans and delivering instant gratification has become the gold standard. Anything that requires more than 30 seconds of focus has become a tough sell. I never want to be chasing views, but it is hard not to feel discouraged when the numbers begin to drop. 

My inbox is no longer filled with exciting event opportunities as companies shift their marketing approach to focus on social media content creators. It is hard not to feel rejected. I was no longer excited to write because I was too worried about if the content is the "correct" content. 

Being a blogger for 7 years has taken a toll on me. In addition to financial, being a blogger is a massive time commitment. The words do not write theirselves. If I am not in the correct headspace, I find it incredibly difficult to write. Editing the pictures takes up the biggest amount of my time. I love my DSLR and taking pictures with it. What I do not like is editing the pictures because it requires a lot of focus and work from me. With the amount of time I need to commit to being a consistent blogger felt like I was working a part time job in addition to my full time job. I simply had become mentally and physically exhausted! 

Putting in so much time and effort compounded by the decrease in readers just had me feeling drained. I always told myself I would only blog if it is fun for me. I was no longer having fun and instead found myself stressing out about posting more captivating content. 

Taking these few months off from blogging and social media has been incredibly refreshing. I no longer feel compelled to pull out my camera at every restaurant I dine at or activity I do. Instead, I focus on being in the present and enjoying myself. It is embarrassing to admit that I did live the "Camera Eats First" lifestyle, but I am now a reformed blogger! 

I am excited to be writing on Pink Tea Latte again. I have had a lot of time to think during my months off. I am going to do a lot things differently. I am going to focus on having fun while blogging. 

BYES